Home Alone 2: Lost in New York
Plot Summary The opening plot to Home Alone 2 is similar to the plot in the first movie. This time the McCallister family, led by Peter and Kate, has gathered to go on a trip for the Christmas holiday -- to Miami, Florida, of course. This bugs Kevin, because (as he says) "there's no Christmas trees in Florida". At the school's Christmas concert, Buzz humiliates Kevin during his solo in front of the whole audience, causing Kevin to punch Buzz in the stomach, which knocks over the other children as well, which sends the cardboard Christmas tree crashing down on the pianist. That night, Buzz apologizes to Kevin and the rest of the family, but Kevin refuses to apologize to Buzz for hitting him and goes up to the third floor; he also reiterates his disgust with the family's decision to go to Florida for the holidays. After berating Kate, he wishes that he could go on his own vacation by himself and have the best time of his life, to which Kate reminds Kevin that his wish to be home alone came true the previous year, so his vacation wish might come true this time, to which Kevin replies in an angry, agitated tone, "I hope so!" The day of the flight the McCallisters sleep in (because of Peter accidentally unplugging the radio clock the night before) and rush through the airport to make their flight, and Kevin stops while getting batteries for his Talkboy. Seeing a man who is wearing the same color coat as Peter, he follows him toward a flight on a Boeing 767 to LaGuardia Airport in New York City. Kevin ends up in New York with his father's travel bag and wallet, while his family and his luggage arrive in Miami; when the family realizes Kevin did not make the trip to Miami, Kate faints. Meanwhile, Harry (Joe Pesci) and Marv (Daniel Stern), the "Wet Bandits" from the first film, have made their way to New York after escaping from prison in Chicago. Deciding to continue their burglary string in New York, Harry suggests they target toy stores because of the Christmas rush, and change their nickname to the "Sticky Bandits", a nickname Marv had coined after he put double-sided masking tape on one of his gloves to steal 14 cents from a Santa Claus on the street. While crossing the street, Marv (who had been looking over his shoulder while wondering what Harry was looking at) has a run-in with a blonde lady, who smacks him for touching her purse. While contemplating on a place to stay while in New York, Kevin walks through Central Park and meets a lady that is covered in rags and tends to pigeons, which makes him shudder. He spots the Plaza Hotel, which he had heard mentioned on a game show the night before, and checks in, pretending to be on vacation with his father, using Peter's credit card from his wallet. While at the hotel, Kevin goes on a tour of New York in a white limo and ends up at Duncan's Toy Chest, and meets the philanthropist owner, Mr. Duncan, who tells him the proceeds from the store's Christmas sales will go to children's hospitals. After Kevin donates some money, Mr. Duncan allows him take a pair of ceramic turtledoves, instructing him to give one of them to someone else, as a symbol of friendship. Kevin leaves the store and runs into Harry and Marv. He flees to the Plaza, but the Plaza's concierge Mr. Hector (Tim Curry) has investigated Kevin's suspicious cover story and believes Peter's credit card to be stolen. Kevin manages to flee the hotel staff, but is kidnapped by Marv and Harry. The two plan to get their revenge on Kevin for sending them to prison in the previous film. Then Marv mentions their plan to rob the toy store, which Kevin tape records, before goosing the lady Marv met the day before, making her strike both Harry and Marv in the process and allowing Kevin to escape into the back of a hansom cab. In Miami, where the McCallisters are staying in a motel that forces them to share one room and watch It's a Wonderful Life dubbed in Spanish (similar to the scene when they were all in Uncle Rob's apartment in the previous film watching it dubbed in French), they receive word that Kevin has been found by tracking Peter's credit card and is now on the run. The family then catches a flight to New York; once they get to the Plaza, they confront the staff for letting Kevin check into a hotel room in the first place, and letting him escape after making the "discovery". Kate goes out looking for Kevin after going against the advice of Peter and the staff, while Mr. Hector gives the family a complimentary suite. Kate slaps Mr. Hector for causing Kevin to leave. Using his father's address book, Kevin finds the home of his Uncle Rob, but the door is locked and the home is being renovated, as Uncle Rob and his wife are still living abroad in Paris. Kevin wanders the streets and encounters the pigeon lady again, and attempts to run but gets his foot caught. She frees him and Kevin apologizes for being scared of her. The two watch a Christmas concert in a loft above Carnegie Hall, where the pigeon lady tells Kevin about how her life has fallen apart and how she dealt with it by taking care of the pigeons in the park, leading to her current distraught and homeless state. He promises to be her friend if she needs one, and she smiles. Then while walking the streets, Kevin stops at the children's hospital and waves to a sick child, giving him a look of compassion. Remembering what both Mr. Duncan and Marv said, Kevin decides to stop the bandits from robbing the store and rushes back to Uncle Rob's home. There, Kevin uses the renovation materials to set up a series of booby-traps throughout the home. Kevin arrives at the toy store in the middle of the heist, makes a seesaw using a board and bucket, photographs the two in the process of the crime and finally sets off the store's alarm by throwing a rock tied with a note to Mr. Duncan through the store's window, shattering it. Harry then runs out to the window and steps on one end of the seesaw, but before he can warn Marv not to step on the other end, Marv does exactly that and sends Harry flying into the air, causing him to painfully land on the roof of a parked car. Harry and Marv then chase Kevin to Uncle Rob's house, break into the home, and are beset by Kevin's brutal booby-traps before finally falling from a rope lit on fire, as Kevin calls the police from a phone booth. The bandits catch him, but the pigeon lady enters the scene and douses the two with bird seed, prompting pigeons to swoop down and swarm them. Kevin runs and sets off fireworks that he bought earlier to signal the police, who arrest the bandits and have Kevin's photographs and tape recording to use as evidence against them. At the toy store, Mr. Duncan finds Kevin's note and realizes his role in stopping the bandits. Kate is looking for Kevin in Times Square, and informs two police officers. While talking to them, she mentions (and remembers) Kevin's fondness for Christmas trees, and asks them for a ride to Rockefeller Center. Her intuition proves correct, as she then finds Kevin in front of the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree, and the two embrace and apologize to each other (a parallel to the first movie's mother-and-son reconciliation scene) before heading back to the Plaza. A truckload of gifts comes to the Plaza the next morning as a reward for Kevin's foiling of the robbery, and Buzz suggests that had it not been for Kevin getting on the wrong flight, they would not be in the suite with the Christmas tree and gifts in the first place. So, he decides to allow Kevin to open up the first present as a sign of reconciliation. While everyone else is opening their presents, Kevin runs out into the snow to give the pigeon lady one of the two turtledoves Mr. Duncan gave him, and reaffirms his promise to be her friend, and they hug. Meanwhile, Kevin's room service bill from his original stay at the hotel is delivered to the suite. Peter calls, "Kevin! You spent $967 on room service?!", and Kevin runs back to the hotel as the film ends.